By Student Sustainability Analyst Marine Savoure
From March 27 to 30, Emerson College conducted its first ever Teach-In on Sustainability. With 13 events and almost 40 guest speakers, the Teach-In was a celebration of the incredible interdisciplinary nature of sustainable initiatives and a reminder of the urgent need to champion sustainability across all fields.
In the spirit of Teach-Ins, the events centered on sparking practical and action-oriented conversations across both open classroom sessions and panel discussions. During a session about Harnessing Storytelling for Sustainability, Pedro de Filippis spoke about his experience directing Rejeito, a documentary on mining and colonialism in Brazil. He said he makes films to “learn alongside” the audience, not state conclusions to the audience. This same atmosphere of sharing knowledge and experience as an opportunity to mutually learn, not unilaterally assert, permeated every event.
Throughout the week, attendees returned to the roots of sustainability, with conversations around decolonizing the arts, the parables for change present in indigenous literature, and an exploration of post-colonial and indigenous environments. Local community initiatives took the stage, from Youth Corps highschoolers working with Green Roots in Chelsea to the Emerson Green Collective and Emerson student-led sustainability initiatives. Attendees mapped their own climate career under the counsel of EcoTok trailblazers and saw all the ways climate could be integrated into a career with expert and Alumni panels.
In true Emerson fashion, the true star of the Teach-In was storytelling, in its myriad of forms. This Teach-In didn’t offer one simple definition of sustainability. Instead, it invited attendees to determine for themselves how they will integrate sustainability into their own lives. Attendee Avanika Lefcowitz ‘26 shares in the “Learn Out” reflection form, “This presentation made me realize there’s always more ways to share a story, and there’s always people who want to hear a story. It was inspirational for creatives interested in sustainability that often feel frozen.” As a school of storytellers, the challenge is clear: how will we tell the story of a more sustainable future?
Missed the Teach-In this year? Find a complete list of all events below, and make sure to tune in next time.
Explore all Teach-In Events:
- Reading and Writing the Environment: Write It! – Global Warming
- Green Production and Harnessing Storytelling for Sustainability
- Energy and Sustainability: Action Plans
- Advanced Topics in Global Diversity Studies: Postcolonial and Indigenous Environments
- Decolonizing the Arts
- How to Calm Your Nervous System in These Trying Times
- Introduction to Research Writing
- The EcoTok Strikes Back
- Emerson’s Transforming Narratives for Climate Justice Initiatives
- Parables for Change
- The Importance of Communication and the Arts in Science, Government, and Higher Education
- Alumni Panel
- Emerson Green Collective Open House and 5th Year Anniversary Event
